BOLZANO. Retraining. It has once again become the watchword after the Bavarian Schoeller industrial group, in recent days, in addition to the WaltherPark in Bolzano and the Bauer hotel in Venice, purchased the Viva Virgolo company. That is, the land and buildings on the hill overlooking the city. Splendid location, enormous potential for use and development, nevertheless the area has been in a state of total abandonment for years now.
The Austrian real estate developer Renè Benko, at the time, had purchased the land on Virgolo with the aim of building the new headquarters of the Ötzi Museum; hypothesis passed after the Province opted for the former Enel headquarters in Viale Druso. Now there is a new owner, the Schoeller group, with great financial resources and a hundred years of history behind it. It will be interesting to understand, in the next few weeks, what the plans are. The priority is certainly to finish WaltherPark; and for Virgo?
Buy land
While waiting to find out more, inside and outside the Municipality, as usual when talking about the hill, the debate has been rekindled. Generally very cautious, this time the green councilor Chiara Rabini takes a position: «We need to discuss it again with the new ownership WaltherPark and Virgolo. The destination and the projects for the Virgolo must be a priority of the council, in my opinion to acquire the land. The municipal administration must also invest funds in greenery and natural areas – a priority like other sectors such as roads – in favor of the community and the public interest”. According to Rabini, it is necessary to plan a new cable car that will take you from Bolzano to Colle with a stop at Virgolo and create a “truly sustainable project (no overbuilding in a place at hydrogeological risk) for the redevelopment of greenery and spaces for the benefit of the community”.
A 35 million project
But how much would it cost the Municipality to purchase the land and redevelop the Virgolo? During the discussion on the 2022 municipal budget, Team K councilors Matthias Cologna and Thomas Brancaglion asked to make an estimate of the costs relating to the implementation of the project by architect Stefano Novello which would provide for a soft development of the area. «From the study – explains Cologna – it emerged that it would cost around 35 million. A sum that would be divided as follows: 14 million 700 thousand for the new cable car; 5 million for land expropriations; 2 million and 300 thousand for the access road to Virgolo; connecting paths and new park 2 and a half million; 2 million and 280 thousand euros for the reconstruction of the Bellavista hotel; 2 million and 750 thousand for the mountain station of the cable car; one million and 200 thousand euros for sports facilities. It is an investment that a city like Bolzano can afford to make. If an agreement was then reached with the private sector, a way could be found to reduce costs.”
Negotiations with private individuals
Roberto Selle, leader of the League, also hopes in a note that the Municipality will open negotiations with the new owners of the land for the purchase of the areas or focus on a PPP, thus arriving at a project of broader public interest which also includes the Colle, as it is a mountain in Bolzano with its cable car. «The Province must also be involved in this case. On the Virgolo, student residences, sports, recreational and cultural areas could be created for all citizens.”
Diego Salvadori, municipal councilor of Fratelli d’Italia, regrets Renè Benko’s visionary project which envisaged bringing the Ötzi Museum to the Virgolo: «I liked the “Viva Virgolo” project of the Signa group and, despite the vicissitudes of the real estate developer Austrian, in my opinion the city has missed another opportunity to equip itself with a multifunctional infrastructure that would have given it a wide-ranging cultural and artistic vision”. Hopes are now pinned on the Schoeller group: «I hope they have the foresight necessary to understand the importance of that area and decide to invest in beauty and quality».
Councilor Claudio Della Ratta (Civic for Bolzano) was skeptical: «On several occasions there has been talk of redeveloping the Virgolo, but the Municipality has demonstrated over time that it has other priorities and, if it did not redevelop the Virgolo when it had the river at its disposal money that arrived thanks to the Pru of the station quadrant (Waltherpark project), which brought 100 million euros as a dowry in addition to the 23 million relating to the “hole” in Via Alto Adige, will certainly not intervene now, given that this money has been spent”.
